gloss

1. 1.

   give a shine or gloss to, usually by rubbing

   Broaderpolish
2. 2.

   provide interlinear explanations for words or phrases

   “He annotated on what his teacher had written”

   Synonymscommentannotate

   Broaderrede
3. 3.

   provide an interlinear translation of a word or phrase

   Broadertranslate
4. 4.

   give a deceptive explanation or excuse for

   “color a lie”

   Synonymscolorcolour

   Broaderapologize

Other forms of gloss

plural

glosses·

past tense

glossed·

present participle

glossing·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about gloss

What does gloss mean?

gloss means "an explanation or definition of an obscure word in a text". That is the primary sense; the word has 8 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in gloss?

gloss has 1 syllable: gloss. In IPA it is /ˈɡlɔs/.

What is another word for gloss?

Close synonyms include rubric, glossary, polish, glossiness, burnish. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is gloss a common word?

gloss is banded "Familiar" — widely understood, used when the subject calls for it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.